ATI just launched its long awaited AMD 690 chipset but this one is the integrated one. There will be more chipsets and Rx790 series is already scheduled for later this year.

The good thing about this chipset is that it can and will support Barcelona kind of processors and especially Agena FX and similar products based on the native quad core.

It also has the edge as it can support multiple R600 cards and Quad FX. It comes with at least two PCIe 16X slots and two socket 1207+ and of course it supports Hypertransport 3 at much higher speeds. Of course it supports Crossfire.

Our friends at CHW has an ATI chipsets roadmap detailing a RS780 IGP chipset with DX10 compatible GPU in H1 2008. Before that in H2 2007, we will see a RX740+, RS740+ as well as RD790+ supporting HyperTransport 3.0 technology. Interestingly, RS780 is built based on 55nm process technology and is pin compatible with RS740+. According to them, RS780 is an 8th generation IGP chipset from ATi supporting AM2+ and Greyhound processors. RS780 has an integrated DX10 Unified Shader RV610 based graphics core and support PCI Express 2.0 technology.

AMD has revealed information about the Universal Video Decoding capability of the top to bottom R6xx family and thus even the integrated RS780 chipset is able to provide UVD support. Since there is a dedicated hardware video decoding function, its performance is basically independent of the GPU 3D engine. It offers benefits like better video performance and less CPU utilization. RS780 will be paired up with SB700 Southbridge to offer 6 SATA 3Gb/s, RAID 0/1/5/10, 12 USB 2.0 ports as well as Intel Turbo Memory technology.

Advanced Micro Devices has quietly validated its next-generation core-logic code-named RD790 with PCI special interest group (PCI SIG) which supervises implementations of PCI and PCI Express busses. The validation means that the company may start shipping its first high-end core-logic in years commercially to mainboard makers.

Earlier media reports claimed that AMD’s RD790 north bridge supports HyperTransport 3.0 bus with up to 2.6GHz clock-speed as well as 42 PCI Express 2.0 lanes (two x16 lanes for graphics cards, one x4 lane to connect to I/O controller, one x4 lane for add-in boards and two x1 lanes for add-in cards). AMD RD790 is projected to be compatible with future microprocessors in AM2+ form-factor. The chip itself is rumoured to be made using 65nm process technology at a contract semiconductor manufacturer.

AMD 790, which was originally developed by ATI Technologies, will be AMD’s first high-end core-logic by AMD in years, as previously the company relied on chipsets from companies like ATI (now part of AMD), Nvidia Corp., Silicon Integrated Systems Corp., Via Technologies and so on. The new chipset will support multi-GPU CrossFire technology as well as CrossFire Physics technology and will pose a threat to Nvidia nForce chipsets for AMD platform. It is also likely that the AMD790 will be the base for next-gen AMD QuadFX (4x4) platform.

The PCI-SIG Integrators List includes all products that have a complete and satisfactory PCI Compliance Checklist on file at PCI-SIG, have passed the test criteria set forth at the PCI Compliance Workshops and are production ready. But even though the AMD 790 chipset has been validated by PCI SIG, there is no information when it is planned to be released commercially.

Details of AMD's upcoming chipsets for notebook platforms have surfaced from makers in Taiwan. The M740G chipset will launch in third quarter of 2007, while M780G and M780T will launch in first quarter of 2008, according to sources.

AMD's M740G will support DirectX 9 and HDMI/HDCP and target entry-level markets, while the M780G and M780T will support HyperTransport 3.0, DirectX 10 and HDMI/HDCP and target mid-range and high-end markets, noted the sources.

AMD's new notebook platform Puma, which is set to launch in the first half of 2008, is expected to adopt the M780G and M780T chipsets along with Griffin processors.

AMD Taiwan said that all the company's product lines are running as scheduled. The company declined to comment regarding unannounced products.

AMD is preparing to update its aging 580X chipset later this year with the upcoming RD790. The upcoming RD790 serves double duty as the single and dual processor platform of choice for AMD desktop products. RD790 introduces 41 PCIe 2.0 lanes to AMD’s Socket AM2+ platform for Stars-family processors.

Motherboard manufacturers can distribute the PCIe lanes in many configurations, including four PCIe 2.0 x16 slots with eight-lane signaling. With all 41 PCIe 2.0 lanes, the RD790 chipset has a TDP up to 10-watts.AMD roadmaps reveal the multiple PCIe 2.0 slots are used for an improved CrossFire multi-GPU technology. The improved CrossFire multi-GPU technology supports up to four ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT graphics cards in Quad CrossFire configurations.

Unlike NVIDIA’s SLI, which supports dual or quad graphics cards in SLI, the improved CrossFire solution can take on three cards for improved performance. AMD claims CrossFire scaling with three cards yields a 2.6x performance increase. Two cards in CrossFire yield a 1.8x performance improvement. AMD roadmaps do not divulge how well CrossFire scales with four GPUs.

Expect RD790 to arrive later this year in time for the AMD Phenom product launch in single and dual processor configurations.

AMD’s latest roadmap reveals more details of its upcoming next-generation RS780 chipset. AMD plans to target the chipset towards consumer and commercial desktop platforms, with minor differences for each respective segment. AMD designed the RS780 to accommodate its upcoming Socket AM2+ processors with HyperTransport 3.0.

The RS780 sports a new graphics core with AMD’s Universal Video Decoder, or UVD, technology for hardware acceleration of H.264 and VC-1 video formats. The new chipset supports DisplayPort, DVI and HDMI digital video output interfaces. AMD also integrates an audio controller for simultaneous audio and video output over HDMI. The chipset also integrates HDCP support.

Additionally, the chipset supports TV-out, VGA and LVDS outputs. The graphics core also has two independent display controllers for dual independent displays. The local frame buffer feature will make a return on the RS780, allowing manufacturers to equip the graphics core with dedicated video memory. Users that prefer more 3D graphics power can install an external graphics card via a PCIe 2.0 x16 slot. The RS780 will also have additional PCIe 2.0 lanes for lesser slots.

New to the RS780 platform is the SB700 south bridge. The SB700 does away with all PCIe lanes and only supports PCI, because all PCIe functionality has moved to the north bridge. AMD increases USB support to 12 USB 2.0 ports plus an additional 2 USB 1.1 ports. The new south bridge supports up to six SATA 3.0 Gbps ports with RAID 0, 1 and 10 support. IDE remains a supported feature of the SB700. However, AMD designates the IDE port for double duty – a physical PATA port or for HyperFlash. HyperFlash is AMD’s name for its Intel Turbo Memory competitor.

RS780 for commercial platform has one minor difference compared to the consumer platform. AMD designates a Broadcom BCM5761 managed NIC controller for the commercial platforms. The managed NIC allows for remote management, similar to Intel’s AMT technology. AMD also recommends a TPM 1.2 module for greater security.

AMD RS780 benchmarks leaked with Onda A78GT mainboard
Another China brand will release a board based on the RS780 chipset. The brand/model is Onda A78GT.

This is the 4th board we see after SUPOX, J&W, BIOSTAR, ECS released leaked pictures of their products online. Onda A78GT is a mATX mainboard, it is based on AMD RS780+SB700. It supports AM2/AM2+ processors with DDR2 memory. It has integrated graphics performance levels of HD 2400 and supports DX10 and UVD.

Benchmarks of AMD RS780 is also leaked. The benchmarks are based on AMD RS780+SB700 running AMD Athlon64x2 5000+ and Phenom 9600, DDR2-800 and 1066 with 1G X2, Driver used is Catalyst 8.45RC. OS used is WinXP and VISTA with SP1 RC. Resolution tested is at 1280x1024.

In WINXP SP2 with X2 5000+, 3DMark05 scored 2249 marks while 3Dmark06 scores 1082 marks in single channel memory mode and 2475 in 3Dmark05 and 1206 in 3Dmark06. That is with a X2 5000+.

In a Phenom 9600 with WinXP SP2, 3dmark05 scored 2813 and 3173 in Single and Dual channel configuration. In 3Dmark06 it scored 1313 and 1533 in Single vs Dual channel memory configuration.